Lydia waved off her assistant with a muttered thanks as she put away the projects she had been working on. Work had been hectic lately and even though she tried her best to stay on top of things, the unexpected seemed to happen to her whenever it was given a chance. She knew she was more than qualified to be the head of her company's statistics branch, but that didn't mean she was overly fond of the workload that came with it.
After she was done filing, she stood from her chair and stretched, humming appreciatively when her back cracked. Her phone buzzed from her blazer pocket and a small smile planted itself on her face when she saw who it was.
"Hey, Jacks."
"Hey, how long did we ground Cameron for? Because I was looking online and there's this really cool painting set I think he'd like, what do you think?"
"Jackson, he scribbled on half of our living room's walls, I don't think we need to add paint to his problem."
"But-"
"What about getting him some dry erase markers?" She suggested. "You can get him one of those small whiteboards, too."
Before her husband could respond, a loud crash was heard and he cursed quietly before apologizing and hanging up, promising to talk to her later.
"Mrs. Whittemore, sorry to catch you on your way out but I forgot to tell you something." Her assistant smiled apologetically and she raised an interested eyebrow.
"What is it?"
"The, uh, the phone? You know, the one that you gave to me when I first started working for you?"
Lydia's brain froze, her heart stopping for what seemed like hours before kick starting itself and she fought to keep a straight face even as her mind was screaming at her to do anything but that, because that meant that there was a chance that….
She coughed. "What about it?"
"Somebody called while we were in the meeting with the CEO and-" The woman gasped when she yanked the phone from her gasp, taken aback by the sudden movement.
"You can go now," Lydia told her as she keyed in her password. "I'll let you know if I need something from you."
"Right. Um, have a good night, Mrs. Whittemore."
Lydia ignored her and tapped on the only voicemail her phone from high school had. It was an hour old, more recent than she would have expected and she prayed that it was who she thought it was. And then she pressed play and regretted it instantly, because the Stiles she remembered never sounded as broken as the man crying on the other end did. He never wished that he could take the place of somebody he cared about who had died. He always mourned them, of course, but he'd never, in the eighteen years she'd known him, wished that he could take their place.
Because even if he lost somebody he truly cared about, there were always a handful more to help pick the pieces he'd dropped back up for him.
But this… She swallowed heavily as she listened to it again, realization running over her body in a shockingly cold wave. If he thought that everybody he grew up with had died, then that would surely change him. Debating whether the change was for better or for worse would be a foolish thing to do, as the hiccuping wails answered the question clearly.
She didn't realize she was crying too, not until she opened her eyes that she subconsciously closed and saw the opposite side of her office in a glossy haze. She took a deep, shaky breath and stood up on unsteady legs.
She grabbed her purse and keys from her desk and left the office without another word. She pressed five on her speed dial as she settled into her car and had just buckled her seat belt when a groggy voice answered her.
"Lydia? Y'know it's before eleven and that I have work tonight, right?"
"Work can wait. Stiles called me."
He was silent on the other end and she was about to tell him to move when there was the sound of a frantic curse and blankets rustling. "What? When did he call? Is he alright?"
"I don't know," She responded tightly. "I was in a stupid meeting when he called so I need you to track his cell, can you do that, Danny? Like within the next five minutes?"
An offended huff and determined confirmation later the call ended. She sent a quick message to Jackson telling him what had happened and didn't have time to read his reply before her GPS came to life with directions.
Lydia stared at her hands on the wheel, ignoring how they were trembling, and started the car after counting to ten. The trip would take longer than she wished for, but she would move mountains to see her best friend again.
She just hoped that he wouldn't break beyond repair before she could get to him.
"And that's how I found you." Lydia finished.
Stiles stared at her blankly. He couldn't comprehend what she was saying. Her face softened and she scooted herself closer to him until she was halfway on top of his lap. His arms automatically found purchase on her waist and he breathed in her perfume, which hadn't changed since her middle school days. It was… jarring. Having somebody that he'd been trying to convince himself was dead just show up and give him undeniable proof that they were real.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm sorry that I left you by yourself. I thought that for sure you would've…"
She pulled back as if he'd slapped her and from the jolts on the side of them, Derek and Peter were just as surprised as he was.
She shook her head frantically and cupped his face, her hands cool against his skin. "Stiles, everybody is alive," She told him vehemently. "Scott, Kira, Danny, Jacks, me. We're all alive."
His world stopped. Crumbled. And then built itself back up, revolving around what she was telling him.
"What? But I- I saw you! You were bleeding so much, there's no way you could've survived! And Jackson was having a panic attack and crying and Danny's eyes were closed and- and Scott was lying on top of Kira who was wailing like I don't know what!"
The Hales watched the two of them, how Lydia's eyes were tearing up more with everything he said and how her emotions were at war, torn between elation and guilt.
"Stiles, I promise you. They're alive. We're all alive. Some of us got hurt, yes, but the only one who died was…" She took an uneven breath and eyed them guardedly, bringing his head closer to her chest so she could shield his face from them. "Your dad was the only person who died. Jackson was crying because he pushed him out of the way before he got to you and he ended up falling onto his bad knee, the one he had to go to physical therapy for because of that lacrosse match, and then he started panicking because he saw what was going on. Danny was passed out before the car even passed us, you know how much of a lightweight he is even though he tries to fool everybody. As for Scott and Kira, he was just protecting her, both of them were fine."
"But then… Why didn't you stop me?" He asked brokenly. "If you were all alive why didn't you stop me from running or tell me you were okay? Do you know how scared I was? My dad died right in front of me, Lydia, and you're telling me that everybody was okay?" He raised his voice towards the end and would've continued had a small, devastating noise from the back of his throat not been released.
She tightened his grip and shook her head again. "I was trying to talk to you and Scott told you to call the ambulance while he went to grab towels to try to stop the bleeding. I went with him in the house to see what medical stuff I could find. And then when we went back outside you were gone and Parish was there with a bunch of deputies that Terra sent after you called."
He mumbled a meek 'oh' into her shoulder and she rubbed his back soothingly while he collected himself. Once he had stopped shaking, she pushed him back and gave him the glare that had traumatized his teenage self.
"Now, explain to me how you met these people and why you never thought of going back home."
Talia cleared her throat politely and gave them a smile when they found her eyes. "I don't mean to intrude, but we have questions ourselves and while we were able to keep up on what you said for the most part, I'm still confused on something. I thought his name was Michael, so why are you calling him Stiles?"
Lydia huffed and smacked the back of his head, oblivious to the way Derek narrowed his eyes and Peter's wrist that wrapped around his arm when he tried to move. "His real name is Mieczyslaw but when we were kids a lot of us couldn't pronounce it so we gave him nicknames. Some of us called him Mischief and some of us called him Michael, but he ended up giving himself the name 'Stiles' and that's what stuck with us."
She nodded and together with Stiles, they proceeded to tell Lydia the events that had led them to one another. She was quiet for the most part but her eyes were all but shouting at Stiles with the glances she sent him. Eventually, after a few hours had passed, they had caught her up so they were on the same page.
"What I want to know is how you got so far so fast," Lydia told him as she crossed her arms. "We had the whole station looking out for you and we didn't find anything."
"That's probably when I met Angelo."
"Angelo? Who's that?"
"My boss. But also my client. And I guess he was my teacher too, at some point."
Lydia rubbed her temples and slid off of him, giving a sharp glance to Derek when he pulled him closer to his side. "I have a feeling I won't be happy about this."
"You probably won't." He agreed with a shrug and humorless chuckle. "He found me behind the school field. It had just started to rain and I was about to get sick because of a panic attack, but then he stopped his driver and got out of the car to talk to me. He didn't say anything about why I was there or what had happened, he just offered me his hand and said that he'd sort everything out if I wanted to leave for a while."
"So you went with him? Just like that? Without even knowing what had happened to us?"
"Put yourself in my place, Lydia. Of course I would want to leave if I would be reminded of what I had lost every day." She kissed her teeth and silently gestured for him to continue. "Anyway, long story short he brought me to his place and was telling me how if I wanted to I could work for him. He said that it'd be a secure job and I could earn money and learn how to defend and provide for myself."
Lydia recalled the voicemail he had left her and tried her hardest to keep the dread from showing on her face. "And that was…"
Stiles couldn't bring himself to look at her, self hatred igniting itself in every crevice of his body. "Yeah. I was trained to be a hitman and became the kind of killer my dad despised. Ironic, huh? I watched him work and defend the town for eighteen years and the night he dies I end up turning into a monster."
He didn't think anybody expected her hand to lash out against his cheek, but in hindsight he shouldn't have expected anything else.
"You're an idiot, Stiles. You're an absolute moron who doesn't know how to do anything other than what they've decided on doing, you're full of baggage and you've made so many questionable decisions it's a miracle you're not put away somewhere." Her shoulders hunched and it looked like her energy was just about drained as she slumped against him. "But none of that matters because I missed you and I'd rather have your stupidly smart self than a dead one."
He's about to say something when a glimmer catches his eye and the noise he lets out is barely human. He lifts up her left hand and studies the ring on her fourth finger, stammering as he tries to piece together a sentence. Soon enough he's able to let out a 'who' and she snorts at him before answering.
"Who do you think? Jackson, obviously." She pulls out her phone and types in her password, showing him her home screen with a grin. "This is Cameron, your godson. You've missed out on two birthdays already, so I expect you to have those presents before you meet him."
He took the phone from her and stared at the boy, he would have looked like Jackson with his blonde hair and blue eyes had it not been for that little knowing smirk that was basically Lydia's trademark at that point and the little dimple in his right cheek.
"I see you're still single, too." She laughed at his face and he had a second to revel in the familiar joyous sound before he remembered who exactly she was laughing at.
"Actually," He grabbed Derek's arm, smiling at the wolf's hitch of breath as he did so, and wrapped it around his shoulders. "This man right here is mine. We've been dating for a while now."
Lydia raised her eyebrow and gave him a sly glance that told him all he needed to know about her approval. However, this was Lydia he was talking about and she was prone to be protective. Especially over those she thought had been dead for years.
"Oh? And how exactly did that come to happen?"
"Oh, it was so romantic. You see, I had just walked inside and before I could do anything he threw me down on the table and initiated what's quite possibly the hottest make out session humanity has seen. Me, I'm humanity, and I can confirm that it's true."
"Michae-Stiles." Derek grumbled, the tips of his ears turning an endearing shade of red.
Lydia relaxed into the couch with a startled laugh, and God, does it feel good to laugh with him again. "Well, it looks like at least one good thing came out of your situation."
Stiles nodded with an easy smile, one that he knew wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon. He was still reeling and every time he thought he'd found his footing, another thing made him slip up and he had to start over again, but it was… it was good. Because now he had his friends and the Hales, and now another best friend in the form of a sarcastic wolf and, by some miracle, Derek was his now, too.
Later, after he'd helped Lydia settle in another guest room and promised they'd talk at length tomorrow when she wasn't so tired, he took a shower. It was the first thing that came to mind that would maybe, hopefully, help hide his scent and muffled cries from the Hales.
He couldn't believe how much time he'd wasted that could've been spent with his friends, who were alive. Instead of being there for them in their time of need he had quite literally ran away and fell off the map. They probably thought that he'd abandoned them, especially Scott.
Scott. He wondered what had happened to them in the years they'd been apart. Was he still in veterinary school like he wanted? Or did he change his career idea and settle for something more mundane, like working with Kira in their family business of appraising and selling antiques. Lydia had caught him up on her life with Jackson, and really he never would've imagined Jackson as a stay at home dad, but that proves what he knows.
He raised his head from where it was bowed and stared at his hands that were pressed against the wet tiles in front of him. It was strange to think that his friends and himself, who had been such a close knit group, had lived their own lives thinking the other was dead or off the map. And it was his fault, too. If he had just stayed in the first place he never would've ended up a killer and-
The water stung his still red cheek when he turned his head and he touched it with a wince but couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. Lydia always helped even when she felt that she didn't. She had a way of forcing people to look at the bright side and right now, Stiles was almost blinded with it.
His friends were alive. He had a new best friend and a sexy dork as a boyfriend. He'd met a lot of people and even though he wasn't happy with how he'd spent his life since graduation, he couldn't deny that he'd learned a lot and came out stronger and more confident in his skills because of it.
Stiles turned off the shower and stepped out, drying himself off distractedly before sliding on a pair of boxer briefs. He nudged open the door and shuffled around his hair inside the towel, cursing when he ran into somebody. His foot slipped as he tried to back away and if it weren't for the arms that reached out to steady him he would've been on his ass in a second.
"Thanks-oh." Stiles took in his boyfriend's worried gaze as it searched his body, smirking when the concern turned into something more heated and lustful. "You know," he started. "This really isn't fair."
Derek blinked. "What?"
"I'm practically naked and you're still wearing that damn jacket of yours. Don't take that the wrong way. It's sexy and I love it but I prefer comfort when we're going to bed, y'know?"
"Mic-Stiles. I have to get used to saying that now, huh?"
"You can call me whatever, it doesn't really matter."
Derek rolled his eyes and turned him so he was facing his room, shoving him lightly and walking behind him when he started to move. "Of course it matters, it's your name. I don't like dishonesty and I feel like that toes the line."
He hummed in acknowledgement and tossed a knowing grin over his shoulder. "You just want to watch my ass, don't you?" He laughed at Derek's flustered stuttering and waved his hand in dismissal. "I'm teasing, calm down."
He moved to his duffel bag and pulled out a pair of sweats, putting them on as he answered the unspoken question that was clear on Derek's face. "I'm okay. I mean, I'm still kinda reeling obviously but it's good. I think." He plopped himself onto the bed and stared at the wall. "It sucks too, though. When she told me that they were still alive, I had a little bit of hope left that my dad would be, too. But now it's reality that he really is gone, y'know?"
There was a short pause while the wolf settled behind him. He heard rustling before a soft towel started to dry his hair, Derek's hands massaging his head as he maneuvered the cloth. He let out a small moan and relaxed into it, missing the way his hands fumbled before starting again. He let his mind go blank and did something he hasn't done since he was eighteen.
He enjoyed what was happening right then and didn't worry about what would be coming the next day.
Derek's arm tightened around him and he pulled Stiles against himself to arrange the blankets around them. He thought back to the few one night stands he'd had and something inside him died a little at what he had been missing out on.
After he was satisfied with their positioning, Derek rested his head in the curve of his neck and sighed. Stiles' eyelids grew heavy and he yawned as they listened to the rain hit the paned glass.
"Tell me about them?" Derek requested hesitantly. Stiles let a few minutes slip by, debating as he played with the wolf's fingers.
"Scott's like a brother to me," he started softly. "We grew up together. He was there for me when my mom died and I helped him through his asthma attacks when he heard his parents fighting again and all up to the time they got divorced. We slept over at each other's houses almost every day. We met the rest of our friends in high school. Jackson was the douchey jock, Danny his too 'pure for the world' best friend, and Lydia the school's queen bee. We all hated each other at first, especially Jackson and I."
"Why?"
Stiles shrugged. "There was just something that didn't set well with us. Now that I think about it though, I think it was because we were too similar even though our differences were immeasurable. I mean, I had a loving father and a dead mom and he had two parents who didn't blink an eye at him. We were both suffering and maybe we saw that in each other, along with how they were doing better at something. I had the grades and he had the athleticism. We got closer through Lydia after an incident happened, though, and at the end of our graduation we all decided we'd go to the same school together."
"And Lydia? Wait, wasn't there another girl, too? Katelynn or something?"
Stiles chuckled and tilted his head back to grin at him. "Close, but it's Kira. She's Scott's girlfriend and Lydia's enabler. She falls into the same category as Danny, too."
Derek hummed against his neck, smiling at the shiver that went through his boyfriend. "And Lydia? You guys seem close."
"Well, yeah. I mean that's bound to happen when you're competing for the best grades and are the only sane ones in your friend group."
"You? Sane? Did you forget that time that you walked on a broken ankle the day after it was wrapped? Because I'm pretty sure sane people don't do that, Stiles."
Stiles hummed nonchalantly, burying his face into the soft blankets to hide his grin. There was something about hearing his name, especially in Derek's voice, so long after acting like he was somebody else. They didn't talk a lot after that, just the mumbled small talk lovers do before they fall asleep, and wasn't that somethin? Despite his efforts to stay detached and cool headed, Stiles had got himself a lover during what was one of the roughest periods of his life.
He wouldn't trade it for the world.
It's not like he didn't expect it. Lydia was notorious for her perseverance and insistence. She would get what she wanted, and that was the end of the conversation. Still, Stiles wished that he could've gotten his ass handed to him in a less...private area.
"Stiles," Lydia called with a disapproving scowl. "We're only on the twenty fourth slide, pay attention."
He slid lower in his seat and sighed when he saw the baristas laughing at his situation and twirled his tea between his fingers. "Uh, Lyds? Can we do this somewhere else?"
"What? Why?" She shook her head, turning his request down immediately. "No, we're fine here. You should be thankful, you know. I could've gone through this in front of the Hales. Count your blessings, Stilinski."
"Yeah, but-"
"Moving on." She tapped the keypad on her laptop with a perfectly manicured nail, humming when she saw what the next power point, yes, that's right, power point read. "You should be happy, we're moving on from the big things that you've missed and going into what's been going on with you. So, what college did you graduate from? Degree?"
Her fingers were ready to type, resting familiarly on the home keys as she waited. And waited. Stiles took a sip of his tea, wincing when her head snapped towards him, eyes set into a hard, accusing glare.
"You didn't."
"That depends on what I didn't do, because I did a lot of things, but I also...didn't do a lot of things. Maybe."
She turned her body towards him, indignation written all over her face. "Stiles, tell me you graduated from college. Hell, tell me that you went to college."
He looked at her perfectly shaped eyebrow and nodded once. "I went to college."
Her hand met his shoulder violently, and he yelped as he rubbed it. "What was that for?"
"Because! You didn't go to college!"
"I just told you I did!"
"You were lying!"
Stiles groaned and pushed his drink away. "I didn't see the point in college. I had a job that paid good and it wasn't like I had any goals."
Lydia was quiet for a long time and with a mumbled curse she shut her laptop harder than what was necessary and downed her drink in one go. "Okay," she started. "First thing's first. What do you want to do?"
"Go back to the house? Sleep more? Cuddle with my boyfriend, y'know, the one you snagged me away from earlier?"
"Stiles. I'm being serious, this is your future we're talking about."
He ran a hand through his hair and frowned at her. "I don't know, Lydia. I've never thought about it. I have a good amount of money saved up from the jobs I did so you can understand why I'm not falling over myself to go back to school. My nerves are already shot to hell, it'd be useless if I go back now when I don't even know what I want to do."
"What about joining that police academy you were talking about?"
Stiles snorted and shook his head. "What, when I know that half of the crimes were something that I had a part in? Yeah, no thanks."
Lydia tapped her nails on the table and pursed her teeth as she thought.
"Really, Lyds. I'm fine."
"That's exactly what people who aren't fine say. Now be quiet, let me think."
Knowing that she wouldn't budge, he went to throw away his plastic cup and pulled out his phone when it buzzed in his pocket. He snorted at Macie's question of if he'd known somebody had tracked his phone and sent back an affirmative, stuffing the phone back into his jeans when she didn't respond.
He sat back down next to Lydia, warmth and gratitude seeping through him at the measures they all took to see him.
"What's that stupid look on your face for?"
"It's not stupid," He parried easily. "And I think it's normal to look like this when your best friend hacks into your phone to make sure you're okay." He chuckled at her twisted expression and knocked her knee with his own. "Really," he told her, softer this time. "Thank you."
She huffed and rolled her eyes, but there was a pleased blush on her face when she looked back at her phone's screen. "Don't thank me yet, you can do that after you found out what you want to do."
"Right."
"Seriously, though. There has to be something you're good at. That isn't considered a crime to the public." She added after a moment's hesitation.
He shrugged. "I'm good at fighting and making plans. Researching too, I guess."
She nods her head and closes her eyes while she thinks, her perfect eyebrows furrowed in concentration. She'd been silent for close to five minutes so it was no wonder that Stiles jolted when she suddenly sat straighter and slapped the table.
"Lyds, what the hell! You scared the shit out of me!"
"Teacher," She told him excitedly. "You can be a self defense teacher. Y'know, like Parish did before he started at the station? I'm sure he'd be willing to help you out, too."
"Teacher? Lydia, did you forget the part where-"
"Doesn't matter," she interrupted. "It's perfect, Stiles. Think about it, you'd be able to make schedules based on what you're comfortable with, you'd be teaching people how to defend themselves and you could make sure you get some decent practice in yourself, too. Just consider it, yeah?"
He nodded, too lost in thought to do more than that and listened half heartedly on how her company was in the middle of a big deal with one of their rivals, and how if it fell through then she would leave without a backward glance because she wouldn't be associating herself with idiots. Stiles was sure that she knew he wasn't paying as much attention as she would've liked, and mentally thanked her when she overlooked it.
He'd never thought about a future that didn't involve Angelo and Macie, but now that he could, hypothetically, do that…
Well, he had some serious thinking to do.
Derek watched him from the corner of his eye throughout dinner. There was something off about Stiles and while it didn't seem like it was a bad thing per se, it was enough of something to keep his mind off of the conversations being held over the table.
"Stiles," Devin waved his hand in front of his face, crumbs on the side of his mouth that Lydia grimaced at. "Y'know that test that I was tellin' you about? Well, guess who passed it." His smug expression slowly drifted to concern when Stiles didn't respond and just stared blankly at him. Derek nudged his foot under the table, frowning when he jolted and looked at him before realizing what had been said.
"That's awesome, dude! Congrats! Oh, wait, did she say anything to you? Maybe do a face or something when she handed it back?"
Devin nodded enthusiastically and pretended he didn't notice the other man's unease. "Yeah, she just said a really short 'good job' to me and then that was it. But she didn't do anything for the rest of class so I was happy."
"I'm proud of you," Stiles told him genuinely. "Keep it up."
Devin preened at the praise and Peter muttered something about how he was supposed to react like that towards his father, huffing and rolling his eyes when Devin stuck his tongue out at him.
"So," Lydia started after wiping her mouth. Derek tensed when he saw the determined set of her mouth, thinking of anything that could help him prepare for whatever she would say. She nudged her elbow against Stiles' and his frown deepened at the soft smile he returned. "I think you should come back with me."
Stiles grimaced. Hadn't they gone over this while they were getting coffee? Derek was barely breathing and he didn't even get a chance to elaborate on what she was saying before Peter set his glass down, a lot more forceful than Stiles would recommend for glass.
"What's the reasoning, if I may know?"
Lydia's eye twitched and she gave him a passive stare. "Not that it's your business, but there's a whole town waiting for him, including the rest of us, his childhood friends, and his step mother, who's probably packing her bags to come up here and rip him a new one before forcing him to eat and then go to bed."
"Wait, Melissa knew, too?" Stiles asked with a frown. "I thought only you and Danny knew."
"Stiles, sweetie, you should know better from your ex. He's surprisingly eager and tells everybody who'll give him time what he's excited about."
Stiles chuckled and nodded his agreement. "Yeah, that's true. But wait, who all knows then? That I'm actually alive, I mean."
"Weren't you listening? I meant what I said by the whole town, Stiles. Hell, even Harris smiled for a second."
"Excuse me," Laura interrupted. "I understand that there are people who care about Stiles and who're falling over themselves to see him, but we're here, too. We've been taking care of him for months now and he's become pa- practically family with how much we've come to care for him." She gave a subtle grin to Derek before returning to Lydia. "Some more than others."
Stiles decided to but in before the air got even more tense. "I'm going with her," he winced at the collective dismay his statement got, his stomach dropping as Derek's face fell and closed off. "It's not right now, and it probably won't even be permanent," He gave a pointed look to his friend when it looked like she was going to protest before continuing. "It's just… it's my home, y'know? And even if I don't stay there forever, I'd want to be there for awhile just to be. Be with the people I grew up with and be in the town I lived in. And Lyds is right, there's people there who deserve to know what happened that day. And that the killer's dead now, too."
"If that's your decision, there's no point in any of us trying to change it." Talia took a sip of her drink and put it down, a lot more gentle than Peter had. "However, I hope you know that you're stuck with us now."
Stiles grinned at her and even when he felt his face heating with his happiness, he didn't try to look away. It would be some time until he got used to showing his emotions outright and not giving off a cool exterior every time like his training had ingrained into him, but he thought he was off to a good start.
"So what are your plans then?" Derek asked calmly. Too calmly, actually, but Stiles heard his silent question. Where do I fit into your future? Am I even in it?
Stiles traded a glance with Lydia and shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "I, uh. I'm going to try my hand at college." The Hale's surprise quickly morphed into pride and Derek relaxed before sliding his palm into Stiles' and intertwining their fingers. He shot the man a quick smile and looked at everyone again. "It's going to be online 'cause I wouldn't be able to handle so many strangers in one place, my nerves, they're… you know." He gave a shrug and squeezed Derek's hand. "So, yeah. Hitman turned college kid. That's me."
"Awesome!" Devin yelled excitedly. "Wait, what are you gonna study?"
"Business marketing."
"Really? Huh. I don't know whether to be disappointed or not." Valerie slapped the back of his head and smiled at him.
"I think that's a great idea. What're you going to do after you graduate?"
Stiles wrapped his free arm around Lydia and pulled her closer to himself, grinning somewhat shyly at the Hales. "Lyds is going to be my business partner."
She smirked at their faces and took a sip of her wine, wine that she'd bought herself because she didn't trust their taste, even when she saw how strict Talia was with her ingredients while making dinner.
"Business? So you're actually gonna be like a CEO of something?"
"A gym, to be more accurate."
Derek snapped his head towards him and raised his eyebrows, his eyes swimming with confusion and something else Stiles couldn't determine. "Really?"
"Yeah. But it's going to be more, y'know? I want it to be half fitness center and half a martial arts studio or dojo or something like that. I want to… make up, I guess, for all the people I hurt and killed at my old job. So I'll be teaching people how to defend themselves and maybe I'll persuade the station to be partners with us."
Lydia removed his arm from her and lopped hers through it instead, pursing her lips as she considered the idea. "That could work, actually. Danny's part of the team now and we already know Parish. I'm sure you know them a lot more than us, though. You think we could make that happen?"
He shrugged. "I don't see why not. If nothing else, I'm sure Terra could manhandle them into it."
"That'd be great, then. And of course I'd take care of our finances and budgeting."
Derek's hand tightened around his. "Wait, you two are going to run this together?"
Stiles cocked his head and stared at him curiously. "Yeah? We talked about being business partners throughout high school, the plan just went from being the world's smartest mathematicians to running a gym slash dojo."
Laura hummed from across the table and bit her lip before she spoke, all while staring at both Derek and himself. "You know, Derek does have… connections with some really good personal trainers and a physical therapist. Maybe you could give them a call?"
"Laura-"
"That'd be great!" Lydia grinned at him and Derek managed a half smile back, still trying to wrap his head around what was pushed onto him. But then he saw Stiles face, the wonder and cautious hope in his eyes, and decided that he'd do everything in his power to make sure he wouldn't come home battered and bruised and full of guilt and sadness ever again.
"Yeah," He held Lydia's stare, her calculative eyes sending a shiver through him as he turned back to the food on his plate. "I'll try to contact them sometime this week."
Stiles' grin lit up the room and Talia smiled at how big of a difference it made to have a family, blood related or not..
"Great," Lydia beamed. "I'll send in my two weeks notice today and then start looking for empty lots around Beacon Hills."
Valerie frowned. "Why not here? New York is sure to have more options and I imagine that it's more populated than where you two grew up."
Lydia shrugged and tossed her braid over her shoulder. "We'll eventually spread out and make more buildings, but for now we decided to start in our hometown where we're familiar with everything."
"And we'll have more people willing to volunteer and help out rather than paying strangers." Stiles added.
"So when are you leaving?" Peter asked sullenly.
Lydia's stare hardened and she stabbed a piece of steak with her fork before chewing on it.
"I'm staying here until I graduate. Lyds is already planning a graduation party for me and that's when I'll meet up with my friends and family again."
Derek blinked but his mom was the one to ask the question everybody was thinking. "Why not do that now? I bet you miss them a lot."
"I do! I do, but-"
"But Stiles is a stubborn douche, that's what." Lydia interrupted. "He doesn't want to see everybody even though they're his friends until he graduates because he refuses to be the only one without a college diploma in his hand."
Stiles slumped in his seat at the looks that got him. "It's embarrassing, okay! I was the second best of our school and now I don't even have anything to prove my intelligence except a lousy high school diploma." Devin made a wounded noise and he sent him an apologetic glance.
"Stiles, honey, I doubt your friends will think that after you tell them what you've been up to."
"Yeah, I'm uh, I probably won't be telling them that."
Lydia nodded. "That's probably a good idea. You'll probably end up telling Melissa 'cause you've always been weak to her, but other than that I can't see you telling anybody else."
There was a short silence before she coughed and met Talia's eyes. "Would it be okay if I stayed here for a couple days? I already scheduled a visit to an apartment close by, but in the meantime I'd rather not rent out a hotel room."
"Lydia, we talked about-"
"Doesn't matter. I'm staying and helping you graduate early no matter what you say." She dismissed quickly.
Talia chuckled and nodded her head. "Of course you can stay. Any friend of Stiles is a friend of ours."
"That would be great, thank you." She stood up and brought her plate to the sink, washing it before she put it in the dish rack to dry through the night. "Stiles, expect a call tomorrow morning."
He turned in his chair and gave her a grimace and Derek, bless his soul, tightened his grip and ran his thumb over his wrist softly. "Who?"
"Don't give me that look, I think I know how to not overwhelm my best friend, thank you. It's just Scott and Melissa, but Kira might be there too. I made sure to keep the limit under four people, don't worry."
"Yeah, I-" He swallowed, picturing how he last saw his friends. "That's probably for the best right now."
"Exactly. Anyway, I'm going to go write my resignation letter and go to bed. Tomorrow we'll work on getting you enrolled into whatever university you want and maybe put out some more feelers for land, too."
"'Kay."
She ruffled his hair as she passed the table and even gave Derek's shoulder a heavy pat. "It's good to have you back, Stiles."
"You too, Lyds. 'Night."
"Goodnight." She nodded towards the rest of the Hales and pulled out her phone on the way to the room she was staying in, tapping on it insistently before she closed her door.
Laura cleared her throat and tapped the table lightly in front of him. "So are you moving back to your home town?"
"I think so," He started slowly. "At least for a couple years. I want to be around everybody again but I don't think I'll last long there because I'll just be reminded of my dad everywhere I look. You guys know how small it is, everybody knows everybody and I can imagine the kind of rumors that have spread about me up to this point." He shrugged and removed his hand from Derek's to rest his head on it.
"Ideally I'd want to open two gyms, one here and one in Beacon Hills, but that all depends on how well our first one does. We'd have to look for trainers and other staff to hire, plus get all the paperwork and official stuff out of the way." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he thought about it.
"And you're good with money? The expenses are going to be… large, for what you're planning." Peter said carefully.
"Yeah, I know. But I have a good amount in there so I'm not worried about it." A yawn broke off his sentence and Derek jumped at the chance to have some alone time with him. He muttered something to his family and grabbed Stiles' hand, dragging him off of the chair and towing him behind him as he dropped their plates into the sink and led him to their room.
Stiles snickered at his haste and watched with a grin as the man closed the door while he sat on the edge of the bed. "Eager there, huh?"
"I have something to tell you but I don't want you to think I'm clingy so I'm debating if I should or not." Derek rushed.
Stiles blinked and then frowned when he broke down what his boyfriend said. He opened his arms for him and a second later he had a trembling man in his embrace. "Why would I think that?"
"...I was told that before…" Was the mumbled answer he received. The pieces clicked into place and he cursed Kate's dead body as he hugged him tighter, setting his face into the crook of his neck in hopes that his scent would calm him.
"I don't think that," He started softly. "If anything, I'm the one who's being clingy. Who even said clingy was bad, anyway? The way I see it, I'd rather have a cuddly, attentive boyfriend rather than one who kept his distance and sulked all day."
"Really?"
"Really really."
Derek hummed and lifted his face to look at him, his eyes wide and glistening with the way the moon reflected off of them. He had a small smile on his face and really, hadn't Stiles held back enough? He leaned down and returned his affectionate smile, giggling when Derek ran a hand under his shirt and grazed his ribs.
"You're ticklish?" He asked, laughter in his voice.
Stiles' denial quickly turned into another laugh when Derek continued to explore his waist and torso, and somehow, through his howling laughter and teary eyes, he ended up under a grinning Derek, who was just out of breath as he was.
Their laughter quickly died out and they stared at each other before Stiles wrapped his arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss, snickering when Derek's arm slid on the comforter and he fell onto his chest.
"Clumsy," he told him teasingly.
"Distracted," Derek corrected. He sat back on his heels and gave him a pointed look before taking off his shirt. His hands went back to their position on the hem of his own and he tugged it questioningly, rolling his eyes when Stiles gestured for him to continue with a smug face.
"Somebody's humble."
"But of course I am. One of us has to be."
Derek leaned down and they kissed softly, their lips brushing each other's pleasantly. Stiles let out a groan when he felt the tongue lick his bottom lip and granted entry without a second thought. His hands wandered from Derek's back to the waistband of his jeans and he brushed his fingers just underneath them, a shiver going through him when Derek let out a pleased growl.
Golden eyes met his own and he blushed when his cock twitched, knowing the other man felt it by the light smirk on his face. Derek's hand trailed from his jaw and brushed over his nipple, humming thoughtfully when he shuddered, and continued until he was lightly cupping him. "Is this okay?"
Stiles blinked. "I- yeah, yes, get on with it." Derek raised an eyebrow and damn it all, how did he manage to get a sadist as his first boyfriend? "Please?" He tried hesitantly, moaning when his hand started moving again, setting a rhythmic pace as he twirled his thumb on the head of his dick, driving him mad.
Stiles was aware that he was probably being too loud, but he couldn't find it in himself to care, especially with the sounds Derek himself was making as he watched what his demonstrations were doing to him. He wrapped his arms around him and yanked him down into a hard kiss, closing his eyes and biting his shoulder as his orgasm hit him, leaving his body trembling in the recovery. Really, it was only a handjob and yet Derek managed to give him the best experience he's had as of yet.
Stiles stood by the fact that he could never know the power he held.
Derek cupped his face and caressed his jaw, kissing him languidly while he calmed down.
"Well," Stiles started. "That happened."
Derek grinned and then laughed before knocking their heads together. "Was it okay? I wasn't too rough, right?"
"It was great. Hot. Sexy, if you will."
"Good."
"But," Stiles smiled slyly and managed to flip them while the wolf was distracted. He snickered at the half confused and half aroused expression and shuffled backwards so he was sitting on his knees. "Now it's your turn."
Derek grew serious and he took a breath to calm himself before he grasped Stiles' waist "Are you sure? If we go any further it'll be… difficult for me to stop."
"Yeah, I'm sure big guy. Just, be gentle, yeah? It'll be a first for me, too." Stiles looked down, embarrassed at the confession, but he didn't have much time to sulk before Derek pulled him down so he was laying on him.
"Really? You haven't…?"
"Topped? Yes. Bottomed? No. I was too scared before."
Derek searched his face. "And now?"
"And now, I'm about to walk my cute ass to the bathroom to take care of myself if you don't-"
Stiles' laughter rang out along with Derek's playful growl, the rest of their clothing thrown around the room without another thought.
He knew he had things to think about, but right now he wanted to live in the moment and enjoy the time with his dorky Sourwolf.
Author's note: One chapter left! Let me know what you guys think!